Breather valves



1962 H. BROWNING ETAL 3,020,926

BREATHER VALVES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 8, 1958 E l! w INVENTORS HARRISON BROWNI NG WESLEY c. P TERSUN ll-Y SJJVN BY mob!" ATTORNEY Feb. 13, 1962 H. BROWNING ETAL 3,020,926

BREATHER VALVES Filed Sept. 8, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQRS RISON BROWN LEY (LPATTE N BY ILYA $.LIVNEY a I WW ATTORNEY.

United States Patet 3,920,926 Patented Feb. 13, 1962 3,020,926 BREATHER VALVES Harrison Browning, 3544 E. Fort Lowell Road; Wesley C. Patterson, 5346 E. 18th St.; and llya S. Livney, 2926 E. Glenn St, all of Tucson, Ariz.

Filed Sept. 8, 1958, Ser. No. 759,74 7 laims. (Cl. 137-495) Missilepackaging has generally followed the trend of aircraft engines. This a normal result of the container design parameters established by the anticipated shock, vibration and environmental criteria. A fundamental design characteristic of the resulting containers is the pressure vessel configuration.

This characteristic develops from the pressure differentials encountered during airlift. These pressure differentials are in the order of 10 p.s.i.g., but the container is generally tested to or p.s.i.g. to assure safety. This one requirement has a greater effect on weight and cube than the other design considerations.

The vital interest in containers of minimum cube and weight has revised the approach to the pressure problem and a concept of progressive adjustment to pressure has replaced resistance by sheer strength of materials.

The two most useful solutions may be briefly described as:

(1) Free breathing of the container.

(2) Restricted breathing of the container.

Free breathing containers are based on the use of tubes open to the atmosphere. This provides an air passage but, by design, impedes the transfer of moisture vapor. An impirical ratio of 1:10 has been established by the tube diameter to length. Diameters of .040 in. and less have been satisfactory in use. The data indicates that tubes of .25 in. diameter by 2.5 in. long maybe used in larger containers. This indicates a maximum flow of approximately 12 c.f.m. at 4 p.s.i.g. and a substantial reduction in flow is to be expected where the breather is connected to a desiccant-filled dehydrating tube. No protection is given against the entrance of water as such.

Restricted breathing containers employ low-pressure, high-flow valves which constantly adjust the container pressure to changes in the atmospheric pressure and prevent excessive pressure diiferentials duringairlifts. Our

invention deals with the application of restricted breathing to containers suitable for missiles and large missile components.

Since the containers must be tested for leaks under pressure with the breather valves in place, it was necessary in the prior art practice to make additional holes in the containers to accommodate a filler nozzle used to fill the containers with air while under water and to accommodate a gauge used to indicate the test pressure. Of.

course, there was then no assurance that the holes were properly sealed after the filler nozzle and gauge were removed. p

The breather valves of our invention are adapted to receive a special fitting or connector which, in turn, accommodates filler nozzles and pressure gauges. This eliminates the necessity of providing extra holes in the missile containers.

Also, the presure relief valves presently available are not adapted to prevent dirt and moisture from entering the container when the relief valve that admits air to the container opens due to a drop in the pressure inside thereof. In addition, a vacuum sometimes forms inside the container. When this happens, it is very diflicult to open the container without damaging it. Our invention overcomes these problems, as will be apparent from the description which follows:

It is an object of the invention to provide a low-pressure, high flow valve which constantly adjusts the pressure within a shipping container to changes in the atmospheric pressure and prevents excessive pressure differentials during airlifts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a breather valve for containers which eliminates the need for a special opening in the container to accommodate filler nozzles and pressure gauges.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sand and moisture trap for a breather valve.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a breather valve having mechanical means for unseating the valve to break any vacuum which might exist inside the container to which the valve is attached.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed hereto and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, however, its advantages and specific objects obtained with its use,

reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which is illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional. view of an outlet valve of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of an inlet valve of the invention;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view, partly in section, of a special fitting of the invention which is adapted to accommodate filler devices and pressure gauges;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the valve of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the valve of FIG. 2.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a breather or outlet valve 10. includes an open-topped housing 11 having an upstanding side wall 12 and bottom wall 14. The bottom wall 14 has a cylindrical upstanding portion 16 with an annular groove 18 near the bottom thereof, which is adapted to receive a resilient annular valve 20. The annular valve 20 has four sealing edges, as shown. A valve seat 30 encircles the upstanding portion 16 of bottom wall 14 and seats on valve 20. The valve seat 30 has an upstanding wall 32 which, in turn, houses an annular spring seat 34 and has a shoulder 36 constituting an integral part of the valve seat 30.

A convoluted, torus shaped diaphragm 40 has an in sition superjaoent the shoulder 52 of housing 11 by means.

of an outer retainer ring 54 and spacer 56. The spacer 56 may be made as an integral part of retainer ring 54 and. isused so that the internal parts of the valve .will not become dislodged when the container is subjected to impact. Each part which contacts the lips 42v and 50 of diaphragm 40 has an annular groove, not shown, in contact with the respective lip to assure that air does not leak past the diaphragm 49.

An integral sand-moisture trap 60 and spring seat 62 may be placed on top of spacer 56. The sand-moisture trap 60 includes air outlet ports 61 and has an outer, upstanding wall portion 64 and an inner upstanding wall 65 which is spaced from wall 64 forming an annular chamber 67 therewith. A moisture and sand deflection plate 66 rests on top of the wall 64. The plate 66 has a, substantially flat recessed portion 68, a sloping wall 70* and spaced, horizontally extending teeth 72 (FIG. 4).

The slope of the wall 7%) is such that it will impart an angle of incidence to air coming in contact therewith such that the angle of reflection of the air will tend to deflect sand and moisture which may be present in the rig away from the interior portion of the breather valve Sand and moisture which is not deflected by the plate 66 will be caught in the chamber 67 of the sand and moisture trap 60.

A snap ring 86 retains the assembled parts of the breather valve 10 in position within the valve.

A spring 82 is calibrated to exert a closing force on valve seat 30 of sufficient magnitude to maintain the valve seat 30 closed until the pressure entering holes 84 in the bottom wall 14 of the housing 11 exerts a force on the diaphragm 40 exceeding the pressure to be maintained inside any container to which the breather valve may be attached.

The breather valve 10 may be installed in the wall A of a container and maintained in airtight relation therewith by tightening hexagonal nut 86 against wall A, washer 88 and gasket 90. The gasket 90 may be installed in an annular groove 92 in a shoulder 94 which may be an integral part of the exterior portion of the upstanding wall 12.

Referring to FIG. 2, the inlet valve 100 may be identical in structure to the outlet valve 10, except that:

(1) The upstanding portion 16a of bottom Wall 14a is not grooved and serves as a spring seat 102;

(2) The spring seat 62:: on sand-moisture trap 60a is grooved to receive the resilient valve 20;

(3) The valve seat 3011 and the diaphragm 40a are turned over to work in the opposite direction; and

(4) The valve seat 30a includes upstanding pins 164 which contact a cam 106 designed to unseat the valve seat 30a when knob 108 is turned to its open position (FIG. Also, in the inlet valve 100, one tooth 72a on plate 66a is recessed into a slot 109 in sand-moisture trap 60a to prevent the plate 66a from turning with the knob 108. The knob 108 is turned to the open position to mechanically unseat the valve 100 to relieve a vacuum inside the container so that it may be opened without damaging it.

Referring to FIG. 3, a special fitting or coupling 150 has a cylindrical core 152 which is tapped at one end as shown at 154. The opposite end of the core 152 has a flange 156 surmounted by an annular, resilient gasket 158. The core 152 is surrounded by a spring 160 and a casing 162. A flange 164 at the top of the casing 162 includes dowel pins, such as the one shown at 166, which are adapted to engage slots 168 (FIGURES 4 and 5) in the breather valves and 100. The coupling 150 may be placed over the valves 10 and 100 so that the resilient gasket 158 contacts the chamfered portions 170 and 172 of valves 10 and 100, respectively (FIGURES 1 and 2).

When the casing 162 of coupling 150 is depressed against the spring 160 and rotated, the dowel pins 166 engage annular grooves 174 and 176 in the valves 10 and 100, respectively. Thus, the coupling 150 forms an air tight connection with the valves 10 and 100.

In operation, the valves 10 and 100 are placed in the wall A of a guided missile container. The container is sealed and a first coupling 150 is attached to inlet valve 100 while a second coupling 159 is attached to the outlet valve 10.

A tiller nozzle, not shown, may be attached to the tapped end of the core 152 of the first coupling and a pressure gauge, not shown, may be attached to the core 152 of the second coupling 150. The container is then submerged in water and filled with air until a reading appears on the gauge at the outlet valve 10 indicating that it has opened. The gauge may then be read to see if the outlet valve 10 has opened at the proper pressure. Air to the inlet valve 10 is then cut off, and the gauge at the outlet valve 10 is observed to determine if the valve has closed. The container will then be full of air at a pressure just under the opening pressure of outlet valve 10 and the entire surface of the container may be observed for leaks.

After the container has been removed from the water, a missile may be placed therein and the container closed at ambient pressures.

During ascent the container builds up a positive pressure. When this reaches the operating range of the outlet valve 10 a high-flow air exchange compensates for altitude changes. During level flight the valve 10 is inoperative and the container retains a positive pressure.

During descent the container develops a vacuum and the intake valve 160 operates. Again the flow compensates for the altitude change until descent ceases. At ground level the container retains a vacuum equivalent to the operating pressure of the intake valve 100.

During ground storage the valves 10 and are essentially static. Extremely wide temperature variations are compensated for by valve action, but diurnal changes are not usually great enough to activate the valves.

Valves of our invention are usually mounted in one end of the container, with other accessories such as the humidity indicator. The intake valve 100 may be mounted in the desiccant access door, if an access is used. This assures drying of the incoming air. Recessed and covered receptacles, not shown, are generally provided to protect the valving. However, successful containers have been designed with the valves exposed and just within the maximum projection of the container.

It will be obvious that the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings can be modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that we do not Wish to limit ourselves to the exact details of construction shown herein for purposes of exemplification but not of limitation.

We claim:

1. A low-pressure, high-flow breather valve for controlling the pressure Within a closed container comprising; an open-topped housing having an upstanding sidewall and a bottom wall; ports in said bottom wall; a valve seat including a spring seat and a sidewall; said sidewall of said valve seat encompassing said spring seat; a convoluted, torus-shaped, flexible diaphragm having an inner lip and an outer lip; said diaphragm encircling the sidewall of said valve seat and having said inner lip affixed thereto; the outer lip of said diaphragm being atfixed to the sidewall of said housing; an annular, resilient valve member mounted in said housing adjacent said valve seat; a spring having one end mounted in said spring seat and another and mounted in said housing in such a manner that said spring biases said valve seat in valve closing direction; and a sand-moisture trap rigidly mounted in said open top of said housing superjacent said valve seat; said trap including passage means placing said open-top of said housing in fluid communication with said valve seat, an annular chamber and a sand-moisture deflecting plate; said plate being mounted superjacent said annular chamber and including a substantially flat, recessed portion and a sloping wall exposed directly to ambient atmosphere.

2. A low-pressure, high-flow breather valve for exhausting gaseous media from a container comprising; an opentopped housing having an upstanding sidewall and a bottom wall; a cylindrical, upstanding boss mounted on said bottom wall; a resilient, annular valve member supported by said bottom wall in encircling engagement with said boss; a valve seat encompassing said boss superjacent said resilient valve member; said valve seat including an upstanding Wall encompassing a first spring seat; a convoluted, flexible diaphragm having one lip altered to the wall of said valve seat in encircling engagement thercwith and another lip affixed to the sidewall of said housing; ports in said bottom wall for admitting gaseous media to one side of said diaphragm; a sand-moisture trap rigidly mounted in said open top superjacent said valve seat; said trap including a second spring seat, an annular chamber, ports, and a sand-moisture deflecting plate; said ports being intermediate said chamber and said second spring seat; said plate including apertures and being mounted in said open top superjacent said chamber; and a spring having one end mounted in said first spring seat and another end mounted in said second spring seat, whereby said spring biases said valve seat in valve closing direction.

3. A low-pressure, high-flow breather valve for admitting gaseous media to a container comprising; an opentopped housing having an upstanding sidewall and a bottorn wall; a cylindrical, upstanding boss mounted on said bottom wall; an upstanding spring encircling said boss; a valve seat mounted in said housing superjacent said boss; said valve seat having a depending wall and a spring seat; said depending wall of said valve seat encompassing said spring seat in spaced relation; the end of said spring remote from said boss seating in said spring seat; a convoluted, flexible diaphragm having one lip aflixed to the depending Wall of said valve seat in encircling engagement therewith and another lip afllxed to the sidewall of said housing; ports in said bottom wall; a sand-moisture trap rigidly mounted in said open-top superjacent said valve seat; said trap including cylindrical valve supporting means depending into said valve seat, an annular chamber formed by an outer, upstanding wall and a spaced, inner upstanding wall, air inlet ports intermediate said chamber and said cylindrical valve supporting means, and a sand-moisture deflecting plate rigidly mounted in said housing superjacent said annular chamber; said plate having apertures placing said open-top of said housing in fluid communication with said air inlet ports; and a resilient, annular valve member supported by said valve supporting means; said spring biasing said valve seat against said resilient valve member.

4. The breather valve of claim 3 including also means for mechanically unseating said valve seat.

5. The breather valve of claim 4 characterized in that said unseating means comprises upstanding pins rigidly aflixed to said valve seat and a cam rotatably mounted on said sand-moisture deflection plate superjacent said pins.

6. The breather valve of claim 1 including also a slotted flange having a chamfered inner periphery and being an integral part of the top of the sidewall of said breather valve housing.

7. A coupling member in combination with the breather valve of claim 6, said coupling member comprising, a cylindrical core having a threaded end and a flanged end, a gasket encircling said flanged end, said gasket seating on said chamfer, and a casing surrounding said core, said casing having dowel pins engaging said slotted flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 610,359 Lees Sept. 6, 1898 1,035,803 Mintz Aug. 13, 1912 1,783,646 Hajek Dec. 2, 1930 1,945,760 Strouf Feb. 6, 1934 2,067,924 Illsley Jan. 19, 1937 2,452,612 Swenberg Nov. 2, 1948 2,666,278 Metasovic Jan. 19, 1954 2,859,770 Buivid Nov. 11, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 28,982 Great Britain Dec. 22, 1911 

